Berkshire County is
proud to be the home of some of America's most well known
destinations. Visitors the world over, come to the Berkshires
each year to enjoy attractions such as the Hancock Shaker
Village, Tanglewood, MASS MoCA, the Norman Rockwell Museum, the
Clark Art Museum, the Williamstown Theatre Festival,
The Colonial Theatre, Barrington Stage Company and
others. For additional information, please visit the web site of
each attraction or event, or call us Toll Free at 1-800-772-7926
for assistance. Planning a trip to The
Berkshires and need assistance, please let us know!

Making The Most
Of Your Vacation
In The
Berkshires

Located in western
Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Berkshires is a mountainous
region that was formed more than 500 million years ago when the
North American and African tectonic plates collided, creating
the Appalachian range. Erosion during the millions of years
since that seismic event has worn the Berkshires down to their
present contours: gentle hills featuring elevations up to about
3,500 feet.

The Berkshires are famed for their wilderness areas and hiking
trails, both of which can call to mind the natural landscape
encountered by the earliest European settlers to the United
States. In addition to boasting a portion of the Appalachian
Trail, the Berkshires are where tourists can see the
whimsically-named Bash Bish Falls; the tallest waterfall in the
state of Massachusetts. Other interesting features of the area
are the historical summer camps that dot the hillsides, proving
that the Berkshires have been attracting tourists for well over
a century.

Art
attractions in the
Berkshires

Outstanding
natural wonders,
however, are far
from the only reason
to range far and
wide across this
region. The
Berkshires are also
renowned for their
connection with the
arts. It is in
Stockbridge,
Massachusetts, that
tourists can explore
the Norman Rockwell
Museum, which houses
the largest
collection in the
world of the
artist's classic
paintings depicting
scenes of everyday
Americana. Art
lovers also flock to
the Berkshires to
visit the
Massachusetts Museum
of Contemporary Art
and the Clark Art
Institute, where
works by Degas,
Renoir, and John
Singer Sargent are
displayed as part of
an impressive
collection that
spans five centuries
of ornamental and
practical art.

A love of
music and theatre

The
Berkshires also
serve as the home
base of the Boston
Symphony Orchestra
during the summer
months, but the
region's love of the
performing arts
extends far beyond
its classical forms.
Tourists who
rent a car
to travel to North
Adams can enjoy
three full weeks of
contemporary music
at the Bang on a Can
Summer Festival,
while those who
travel to
Williamstown, Lenox,
or Pittsfield can
attend one of the
many theatre
festivals that
descend on the
Berkshires every
summer.

Famous
Americans

Some of the most interesting facts about the Berkshires revolve
around the lives of famous Americans who made their home there.
The 19th-century women's rights activist Susan B Anthony lived
in Adams, while Herman Melville wrote his most famous novel,
Moby Dick, at his home in Arrowhead. Edith Wharton, author of
great American novels such as Ethan Frome, lived in Lenox. All
three of these historic homes can be visited for a fascinating
look back into the American past.

Tips for
visiting the Berkshires

Experienced
travelers know that dining on fresh, locally produced food is
one of the best ways to get to know a region. This is especially
true in the Berkshires, where the longstanding residents have a
deep commitment to "farm to table" eating. Specialties well
worth seeking out include, fresh cheese produced from the milk
of local goats, and spirits such as vodka, rum, and gin from the
region's distilleries.

Beautiful at any time of year but with four distinct seasons,
the Berkshires are an area that tourists can visit time and
again without ever exhausting the region's almost limitless
possibilities.

The Shakers called
this community "The
City of Peace."
Although you will
find Hancock Shaker
Village a welcome
retreat from today's
hectic pace, this
name belies the
level of activity at
this living museum.
Set your watch back
a century or two and
see the Village come
to life through
vibrant programs,
tours, exhibitions
and hands-on
activities. This
beautifully restored
village, set on
1,200 acres of farm,
woodland and
pasture, is home to
the premier
collection of Shaker
buildings and
artifacts. Graceful
Shaker furniture,
craft and household
items - oval boxes,
brooms, baskets and
textiles - are
exhibited in 20
historic buildings,
each an
architectural gem.
The Round Stone
Barn, most famous of
all Shaker
buildings, is a
testament to Shaker... More
>>>

MASS MoCA -
87 Marshall Street, North
Adams, MA - (413)
662-2111

If conventional
museums are boxes,
MASS MoCA is an open
platform – a
welcoming place that
encourages dynamic
interchange between
making and
presenting art,
between the visual
and performing arts,
and between our
extraordinary
historic factory
campus and the
patrons, workers and
tenants who again
inhabit it. We at
MASS MoCA work hard
to make the whole
cloth of art-making,
presentation and
participation a
seamless continuum.
Performing arts
residencies offer
well-equipped and
professionally
staffed technical
facilities and
stages, and a
sophisticated,
diverse and
sympathetic audience
for new work –
especially
technically complex
work that requires... More
>>>

Founded in 1969 with
the help of Norman
and Molly Rockwell,
Norman Rockwell
Museum is dedicated
to the enjoyment and
study of Rockwell's
work and his
contributions to
society, popular
culture, and social
commentary. The
Museum, which is
accredited by the
American Association
of Museums, is the
most popular
year-round cultural
attraction in the
Berkshires. The
Museum houses the
world's largest and
most significant
collection of
Rockwell's work,
including 574
original paintings
and drawings.
Rockwell lived in
Stockbridge for the
last 25 years of his
life. Rockwell's
Stockbridge studio,
moved to the Museum
site, is open to the
public from May
through October, and... More
>>>

Widely considered
one of the finest
college art museums
in the country, the
Williams College
Museum of Art is a
department of
Williams College.WCMA houses
over 13,000 works
that span the
history of art. The
museum encourages
multidisciplinary
teaching through
encounters with art
objects that
traverse time
periods and
cultures. An active,
collecting museum,
its strengths are in
modern and
contemporary art,
photography, prints,
and Indian painting.
The museum is
especially known for
its stellar
collection of
American art from
the late 18th
century to the
present. With the
largest collection
in the world of... More
>>>

Tanglewood -
297 West Street, Lenox,
MA - (413)
637-1600

In August 1934, a
group of
music-loving
Berkshire summer
residents arranged
for members of the
New York
Philharmonic to
perform three
outdoor concerts at
Interlocken, a
successful venture
that was repeated in
1935. The Festival
Committee then
invited Serge
Koussevitzky and the
Boston Symphony
Orchestra to take
part the following
year. The
orchestra's Trustees
accepted, and on
August 13, 1936, the
BSO gave its first
concert in the
Berkshires, at
Holmwood. The
three-concert series
was given under a
large tent for an
audience of nearly
15,000.Today
Tanglewood annually
draws over 350,000
visitors. Each
season offers not
only a vast quantity
of music, but also a
vast range of
musical forms and
styles, all of it
presented with a
regard for artistic... More
>>>

The Clark’s mission
and its geographical
location define
three essential,
interrelated aspects
of its character and
identity: the
quality of its art,
the beauty of its
pastoral setting,
and the depth of its
commitment to the
generation of ideas.
At the core
of the Institute is
its collections,
centered on an
extraordinary legacy
of Impressionist and
Old Master paintings
whose refinement and
appeal reflects the
fact that it has
grown from a core
group of works
carefully and
personally chosen by
the founders. The
domestic and human
scale of the
galleries, the views
out to the pond,
surrounding fields,
and distant
mountains all foster
the contemplation
and enjoyment of
works of art in an
intimate and warm
setting: an
unhurried experience
with real works of
art... More
>>>

Jacob's
Pillow -
358 George
Carter Road, Becket, MA - (413)
243-9919

Photo: Mike
van Sleen

Jacob's
Pillow Dance
is lauded
worldwide as
a "hub and
mecca of
dancing"
(TIME
Magazine),
"one of
America's
most
precious
cultural
assets"
(Mikhail
Baryshnikov),
and "the
dance center
of the
nation" (The
New York
Times). "The
Pillow" is a
treasured
220-acreNational
Historic
Landmark, a
recipient of
the
prestigious
National
Medal of
Arts, and
home to
America's
longest-running
international
dance
festival.

Each year
thousands of
people from
across the
U.S. and
around the
globe visit
the
Berkshires
of Western
Massachusetts
to
experience
the Festival
with more
than 50
dance
companies
and 200 free
performances,
talks, and
events;
train at The
School at
Jacob's
Pillow, one
of the most
prestigious
professional
dance
training
centers in
the U.S.;...
More>>>

Located in downtown
Pittsfield,
Massachusetts the
Colonial Theatre is
a Gilded Age
architectural gem
brought back to life
as a performing arts
center in the “heart
of the Berkshires”.
Kept safe behind the
temporary wall and
ceiling partitions
of a retail store
for more than 50
years, the ornately
appointed and now
fully restored
Colonial emerged in
August, 2006 as a
cultural and
economic development
force in the
Berkshires.
We invite you
to be a part of the
on-going movement to
maintain this
magnificent part of
our history and our
future. Come tour
this architectural
icon of another age.
Come and enjoy the... More
>>>

Barrington Stage
Company has become
the fastest growing
arts venue in
Berkshire County,
attracting more than
52,000 patrons each
year, and gaining
national recognition
for its superior
quality productions
and comprehensive
educational
programming.Barrington
Stage has produced
several
award-winning plays
and musicals,
beginning in its
inaugural year with
The Diary of Anne
Frank, which won the
Elliot Norton/Boston
Theatre Critics
Award. In its third
year, BSC won two
Elliot Norton/Boston
Theatre Critics
Awards and four
Outer Critics Awards
for its smash hit
production of
Cabaret, which moved
to Boston and played
an extended run at
the Hasty Pudding
Theatre. Several
other BSC
productions,
including Lady Day
at Emerson’s Bar and
Grill, Mack and
Mabel, South
Pacific, The 25th
Annual Putnam County
Spelling Bee,
Follies, West Side
Story... More
>>>

Nestled in the
Berkshire Hills of
western
Massachusetts, the
Williamstown Theatre
Festival is a
celebration of
theater that brings
together a vast
array of artists and
offers audiences
varied cultural
experiences. Every
summer, WTF presents
classic and new
plays on its Main,
Nikos and Center
Stages, Free
Theatre, Late-Night
Cabaret, and
readings, workshops,
and other special
events including a
program for
youngsters in North
Adams called the
Greylock Theatre
Project. Of equal
importance, WTF's
many training
programs offer
nearly two hundred
aspiring theater
artists and managers
an opportunity to
study acting or
serve as interns
with professional
designers, directors
and
administrators.
Now in its 60th
season,
the Festival’s goals
remain constant: to
attract top talent,
cultivate young
artists, produce
reinterpreted
versions... More
>>>

Chesterwood -
Situated on 122 acres in
the idyllic hamlet of
Glendale near
Stockbridge,
Massachusetts, the
property and its
buildings were donated
to the National Trust
for Historic
Preservation by French’s
only child, Margaret
French Cresson
(1889-1973). Inspired by
the natural beauty of
the Berkshire Hills,
French purchased the
former Marshall Warner
farm in 1896. Each year,
during the month of May,
he left his permanent
home and studio in New
York for six months and
moved with his family to
Chesterwood, where he
worked on over 200
public and private
commissions. Many of
French’s plaster
sketches, including
models of his
Abraham Lincoln for
the Lincoln
Memorial, are on
view today in his
Studio as well as in
the permanent
exhibit, Daniel...
More>>>

Shakespeare & Company - 70
Kemble Street, Lenox, MA - (413)
637-1199

Shakespeare &
Company operates
year-round in the
Berkshires,
scheduling hundred
of performances on
two stages, scores
of workshops,
multiple lectures
and demonstrations,
and literally
thousands of classes
for professional and
aspiring actors,
teachers, and
directors ranging in
age from 8 to 80.Our
touring productions
and training
workshops also
travel the country,
but the bulk of the
programming occurs
at our 30-acre home
located in the
historic district of
Lenox – a
five-minute walk
into town (with more
than 50 inns, art
galleries,
restaurants, retail
shops, and historic
sites and hikes).
Our property was
originally developed
as four private
parcels in the late
19th century by the
well-heeled from New
York and Boston.
Today it retains
acres of woodland,
protected wetlands,
rock outcroppings,
and streams. The
land has passed
through... More
>>>

Berkshire Museum - 39 South
Street, Pittsfield, MA - (413)
443-7171

The mission of the
Berkshire Museum is
to enrich, inspire
and educate through
interactions with
the arts, history
and the natural
world.The Berkshire
Museum holds
19th-and
20th-century
sculptures by
American and
European artists who
embraced the
Romantic interest in
heroic stories of
the ancient past.
They are primarily
neoclassical
sculptures in
polished white
marble, though
select sculptures in
aluminum, lead, and
bronze are
interspersed as
striking accents.The diverse
collections enough
also feature
artifacts of ancient
history and natural
science – specimens
from around the
world and across the
ages: fossil
collections, a
143-pound meteorite,
shards of Babylonian
cuneiform tablets,
samplings of early
Mediterranean
jewelry, and
representations of
the Berkshire’s
ecosystems including
local mammals,
birds, reptiles,
fish, insects,
plants, and
minerals.The Berkshire
Museum is the... More
>>>

Built in 1750 for
the first minister
of Township No. 1,
the Reverend
Adonijah Bidwell,
The Bidwell House is
a gracious saltbox
home. Rev. Bidwell
arrived in 1750 to
be the first
minister of this
frontier region,
which eventually
became the towns of
Monterey and
Tyringham. Bidwell
built an imposing
home with six large,
paneled rooms, four
fireplaces, two
beehive ovens, and
three closets.
Surrounding the
house are terraced
stone walls brimming
with perennial beds.
Installed in the
20th century when
the house was
restored, these
provide a fabulous
setting for this gem
of a Georgian
saltbox. The
remaining acreage is
woodlands laced with
hiking trails and
foot paths leading
to historical
landmarks throughout... More
>>>

Mission House - 19 Main Street,
Stockbridge, MA - (413) 298-3239

Following
ministerial studies
at Yale, Reverend
John Sergeant moved
to the south
Berkshires to
establish a mission
for fifty Mohicans.
He lived in a simple
cabin until he
married Abigail
Williams in 1739 and
built the Mission
House.Originally
located atop
Prospect Hill, this
National Historic
Landmark was
carefully
disassembled, moved,
and restored by Miss
Mabel Choate at its
present location on
Main Street between
1926 and 1927. The
house contains an
outstanding
collection of
eighteenth-century
American furniture
and decorative arts.
Between 1928 and
1933, noted
landscape architect
Fletcher Steele
designed the
Colonial Revival
garden, which
features a
colonial-style
dooryard garden of
circular brick paths
enclosed by a
tidewater cypress
fence. A kitchen
garden... More
>>>

The Berkshire Scenic
Railway Museum's
primary mission is
to foster interest
in the history of
railroading in the
Berkshire Hills of
western
Massachusetts.

Step back in time!
Your tour begins at
the restored 1903
Lenox Station where
you will find
exhibits about
railroading
including Yokun
Block Station. Learn
how the railroad
helped build the
economy of our
region. The museum
and grounds are open
Saturdays only from
9:00AM to 4:00PM
from May-October.

New Hoosac Valley
Service train rides
between Adams and
North Adams began
October 2015!... More
>>>

Melville’s
associations with
Berkshire County
began in his
childhood. The
grandson of two
Revolutionary War
heroes, Melville was
born in New York
City in 1819. His
mother, Maria
Gansevoort Melville,
was the daughter of
General Peter
Gansevoort of
Albany, who was
called the “Hero of
Fort Stanwix” due to
his role in the
defense of that fort
in Rome, New York,
during the
Revolution.
(Melville would name
his second son
Stanwix in honor of
that event.) The
Gansevoorts had come
to the new world in
the 1600s and
established
themselves as one of
the first families
of Dutch Albany.Melville’s
father, Allan
Melvill, was also
from a prominent
family, this time
from Boston. Allan
was the son of
Thomas Melvill, the
son of a Scottish
immigrant who
achieved wealth as a
merchant... More
>>>

Discover a geologic
wonder at this 48
acre park. Examine
the only naturally
formed white marble
arch and man-made
white marble dam in
North America, and
tour an abandoned
marble quarry. The
"natural bridge" for
which the park is
named, according to
geologists, is 550
million year old
bedrock marble,
carved into an arch
by the force of
glacial melt water
over 13,000 years
ago; one of the best
places in New
England to
demonstrate the
effects of
glaciation. The
bridge spans rushing
Hudson Brook as it
twists and tumbles
through a steep
60-foot deep gorge.
In the summer
months,
knowledgeable park
interpreters are on
hand to explain the
natural forces that
created the bridge
and its more recent
human-related
history. There is a
0.25 mile walkway... More
>>>

The Ashuwillticook
Rail Trail is a
former railroad
corridor converted
into a 10-foot wide
paved, universally
accessible, passive
recreation path. The
Ashuwillticook runs
parallel to Route 8
through the towns of
Cheshire,
Lanesborough and
Adams. The southern
end of the rail
trail begins at the
entrance to the
Berkshire Mall off
MA Rte. 8 in
Lanesborough and
travels 11.2 miles
north to the center
of Adams. Parking
lots and restrooms
are available at
selected locations
along the way.
The rail trail
passes through the
Hoosic River Valley,
between the Mount
Greylock and the
Hoosac Mountain
Ranges. Cheshire
Reservoir, the
Hoosic River, and
associated wetlands
flank much of the
trail offering
outstanding views of
the scenery and
abundant wildlife... More
>>>

The Berkshire
Botanical Garden is
a not-for-profit,
membership-supported
educational
organization
encompassing 15
acres of cultivated
land at the
intersection of
Routes 102 and 183
in Stockbridge,
Massachusetts.Called “a
glistening community
gem” by Virginia
Small, author of the
book Great Gardens
of the Berkshires,
the Garden’s mission
is to fulfill the
community’s need for
information,
education and
inspiration
concerning the art
and science of
gardening and the
preservation and
improvement of our
local environment.Our public
display gardens are
open May through
mid-October. Both
functional and
ornamental, they are
among the oldest in
the US and have been
expanded over the
years in breadth and
variety through a
series of bequests
and major gifts. Our
collections
emphasize plants
that are indigenous
to or thrive in the
Berkshires; more
than 3,000 species
and...
More
>>>

North Adams
SteepleCats - (413)
663-7333

Berkshire
Theatre Group

The SteepleCats
organization is a
collegiate summer
baseball team that
brings the best
college baseball
players from across
the country to play
summer baseball at
Joe Wolfe Field. The
team is part of the
New England
Collegiate Baseball
League, a premier
summer league that
is known for its
superb competition.
The North Adams
SteepleCats’ mission
is simple: to field
the best collegiate
summer baseball team
in America and to
provide its fans the
best summer family
entertainment
available anywhere.North Adams
Steeplecats -
Collegiate baseball
at its finest -
family festive fun &
snacks for under
$20! Games are in
June and July, playoffs
in...
More>>>

Berkshire Theatre Group
was created in 2010 by
the merger of two of
Berkshire County's
oldest cultural
organizations, Berkshire
Theatre Festival founded
in 1928 in Stockbridge
and The Colonial Theatre
built in 1903 in
Pittsfield. One of the
largest and most
exciting arts
organizations in the
area, BTG oversees the
development, production
and presentation of
theatre, music and the
performing arts on 5
stages.Our campus in
Stockbridge, which is
home to Berkshire
Theatre Festival,
presents work at three
venues: The Fitzpatrick
Main Stage, The Unicorn
Theatre and The Neil
Ellenoff Stage.THE FITZPATRICK
MAIN STAGE (408 seats),
founded in...
More
>>>

Joe Wolfe
Field
-
State Street,
North Adams, MA

Lenox, MA - Stockbridge, MA -
Pittsfield, MA

Berkshire Theatre Festival - (413)
298-5536

The Mahaiwe
Performing Arts Center & Theatre

Founded in 1928, the
Berkshire Theatre
Festival has the
unique distinction
of being the
longest-running
professional
performing arts
organization in
Berkshire County andone of the
first established
regional theatres in
the United States.
Guided by Artistic
Director and CEO
Kate Maguire, the
theatre’s access to
its past translates
into a vivid sense
of what it means to
be a participant in
today’s diverse and
complex world. The
vast artistic
spectrum of artists
who have written,
performed, directed
and designed here
through the decades
has given the BTF a
unique perspective from
which to view the
future. Consistently
high quality productions
on both the... More
>>>

Built in 1904 by a
syndicate of local
businessmen, The Mahaiwe
is one of the oldest
surviving theatres in
the country.The Mahaiwe has
recently been designated
as an official project
of "Save America's
Treasures,"
and
application has
been made for inclusion
in the National Register
of Historic Places. In
January 2003, it was
transformed into the
Mahaiwe Performing Arts
Center with an exciting
future as a year-round
center of cultural life
in the Berkshires.
The Mahaiwe Performing
Arts Center marries the
beauty, warmth and
intimacy, of a
turn-of-the-century
proscenium theater, with
the latest in stage
technology...
More
>>>